Living In The Shadows
by The Merlion
Summary: Talon had moved to the Du Couteau's manor after his fight with Marcus Du Couteau. There he meets his two daughters Katarina and Cassiopeia. After the disappearance of the General Du Couteau, Talon went looking for him alongside Katarina. Will their hate for eachother change into something more ? (I'm so bad at summaries)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**** : The Blade's Shadow**

It was a dark place in a disgusting environment, there was always this foul-smelling floating in the air. The people living here were criminals, killers, rapist, but mostly thieves. Yes, the slums of Noxus were definitely not a place where someone would like to live, but it's not like the people who came from it had had a choice, most of the time they were here because they didn't have money, they were orphans, or because they were search by the noxous guards or assassins for a crime they made once and the slums were the perfect place to hide. Maybe the best place to hide, but not the safest, in the slums more than anywhere else in Noxus, the motto _'Only the strong survives'_ were put into practice and you could always see some dead bodies lying on the streets, even though most of the time the dead bodies were tossed in the sewer.

Talon knew more than anyone else that the life in the slums was not an easy one. He lived there alone since he was born, probably abandoned by his parents when he was born or maybe they have both been killed. He didn't really care though, he was happy not having a family to care for _'love, care, family makes you weak and weakness makes you dead'_. He had once, had a friend named Kavyn, they used to steal food together, but many times because of Kavyn's incompetence to respect the original plan, Talon almost got caught by Noxian guards or the shopkeeper, and one day after Talon almost die because of Kavyn, he decided to kill him with some daggers Kavyn stole on the same day. And since, Talon promised himself to never have any friends or feel anything.

With time, Talon ended up being agile with his daggers, he handled them with precision, they were like deadly companions for him. Now, when some guards tried to arrest him, he simply killed them. One day, ten guards were after him and it didn't even take two minutes for Talon to kill them all.

But after a while, Talon's murders, started to make some noise in the High Command of Noxus, Swain himself didn't like it, it gave a bad image of Noxus knowing that one filthy street rat could kill a unit of high train guards, so he decided to put a reward on the boy's head. The only problem was that nobody knew who this boy was, neither what he looked like. The only thing they knew was that he wore a purple hood that covered his face, and for the name, well the press already took care of that mystery by calling him _"The Blade's Shadow"_. Swain put a 10 000 $ reward for whoever would bring him The Blade's Shadow's dead body, _'See how long you're gonna last now, street rat'_ Swain thought with an evil smirk appearing on his face.

However, Swain was not the only one who took an interest for the boy, another man with a long coat and pepper and salt hair found an interest in the boy, but not with his dead body, no, he wanted him pretty much alive _'Oh ! Yes, I have some big plans for you Blade's Shadow …'_

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**_Hi, so I know this is short, but it's only the first chapter, the other are longer, this one is more like an intro :)_**


	2. Chapter 2 : Marcus Du Couteau

**Chapter 2**** : Marcus Du Couteau**

Talon finds it funny, seeing all those posters with what was supposed to be his face on it. 10 000 $... his death worth more than everything he ever had in his life _'What a joke'_ he thought while snorting.

He was happy to have his identity unknown from everybody and the fact that the press and the high command seems to have taken an interest in him annoyed him. He liked living in the shadows, without anyone noticing him, but with this reward he started to draw attention on him. It's been a week now that several guild of assassins tried to recruit him, sending assassins who gave him two choice either he joined them, either he died, but Talon preferred the third option in which _they_ die and that's what happened all the time.

One day though, a strange man came to him. He was in his late forties, he had light grey eyes, pepper and salt hair, and a long dark coat that seemed to have coast even more than the reward for his death. But Talon was really not in the mood to play, and he wanted to be done with it as soon as possible.

The man walk in the direction of The Blade's Shadow, he stopped when they were approximately five meters away from one another. He was going to talk, when suddenly the boy said something.

"I know why you're here"

The man was surprised, a smirk on his face.

"Oh! Really? Enlighten me then."

The man stared at Talon with piercing grey eyes as if he was studying him. Talon was annoyed and replied without emotion.

"You want me to join your guild or whatever you're in. I'm used to it, I had other proposition."

The man didn't answer he simply smirked. So Talon continued.

"The answer is no, I'm not interested. Now you better go and leave me alone or I'll kill you."

"Well, you see the problem _is_, I can't just let _you_ go away." The old man answered.

'_Of course, he can't just leave me alone; he has to waste my time!'_ Talon was angry but he didn't show it, he's face and he's eyes were still blank.

"Well then you'll die."

And Talon started to attack him. He charged on him with one of his blades and, to his big surprise, the man dodged it. Instead he gave a kick at Talon, and Talon ended up on the ground. He quickly stood up again ready for his next move and started throwing daggers in the man's direction. The pepper-salt hair man dodged them all as easily as if he knew what Talon's next move would be. Then in not even half a second a dagger went straight on Talon, who avoided it at the last second. The combat went on and on for what seems like hours for Talon. He wasn't even charging at the man anymore, but opted for a defensive fight against the old man who was fast and precise. Talon started to feel the fatigue in all his muscles and the fact that he didn't ate well wasn't helping his situation. He had several cuts all over his body from the fight and he felt like he was going to faint at any moment, whereas is opponent who was still in good shape, not one sign of fatigue emitted from his body.

Soon, Talon dropped on the ground, the man holding a knife on his throat. Talon closed his eyes preparing himself mentally for his death _'It's not like anyone is going to miss me, I'm gonna die nobody will remember me, I have no importance anyway.'_ But the pain that was supposed to come when the man would slit his throat never came. So Talon opened his eyes, only to find two grey eyes staring at him. Talon was confused _'What was he waiting?!_'

"What are you waiting for? You defeat me, now kill me!"

The man sighed and replied.

"You see, I think you made mistake while judging me earlier. I'm an assassin yes, but I'm not part of any guild or whatsoever."

"Then what do you want with me? It doesn't look like you need the money from the reward."

"Great sense of observation, that's a good quality for an effective assassin. Because you see, that's what I would like you to do. I would like you to work for me, as my personal assassin, and in compensation I will accommodate you, you'll have your own room and food will no longer be an issue, and I will also train you to improve your fighting skills. So what do you think?"

"Why do you wanna help me? Where's the trick?" Talon said. At this the man laughed.

"There's no trick, you see, I think it's sad to waste such a great potential."

Talon didn't say anything for a while. He was thinking, thinking about his options. In one hand there was death which Talon didn't really want, and on the other hand there was him living in real house, with food, training. Of course he would have to work for this man for the rest of his life, but he didn't really care, he had won his respect by defeating him after all.

"I accept your proposition, but under one condition, I'll take orders from you, but from you only."

"Well I guess we have deal then." The man said while taking away his knife from Talon's throat and handed him his hand to help Talon getting up from the ground. Talon took his hand and gather the little bit of strength that was still in him to stay on his feet.

"Since we're going to see a lot of each other in the upcoming days, I might as well present myself. I'm General Marcus Du Couteau."

'_So he was the famous General Du Couteau'_, Talon had heard of him, he was a respected man in Noxus, working in the High Command alongside Swain.

"I'm Talon, it's a pleasure to meet you General" Talon said emotionless

"Pleasure's mine Talon." Marcus replied.

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**_Here it is the second chapter, hope you like it :D_**


	3. Chapter 3 : The House Du Couteau

**Chapter 3**** : The House Du Couteau**

The General Du Couteau took Talon in his carriage to bring him at his house. Both men were quiet during the journey. Talon was looking through the window seeing the slums slowly disappear as they drove on. A little bit of melancholia reach Talon's thoughts, the slums had been his life, he knew them by heart, every alley, every dead end… Now he was going to be thrown in an unknown world, in which he knew he'll never find his place _'The elite of Noxus'_ he thought sighing. For him the elite of Noxus was a band of lazy spoil brats, they were weak, all weak, if you took their money and threw them in the slums, they wouldn't even last a second. The General didn't look like a spoil brat though, _'he must be the exception'_ Talon thought, at least there were still some respectable people in the High Command.

After a while the carriage stopped in front of a giant gate with two guards. Once they saw the General, the gate opened and the carriage drove into the property. There was a long pathway with trees on both sides and at the end was the Du Couteau's Manor. Talon laughed inside him, all his life he never had any house and had to sleep in the sewers, whereas this man was leaving alone, maybe with his wife, in a house where you could put at least fifty persons. His trains of thoughts were interrupted when Marcus Du Couteau talked.

"By the way, Talon, I forgot to mention you, that I live here with my two beautiful daughters Katarina and Cassiopeia, I guess you'll meet them at dinner"

Talon didn't say anything just nodded.

When they finally reach the house, the General asked a maid to show Talon the house and his new room. He then excused himself and went to his office.

Talon entered the house following the maid who showed him the kitchen, the main living room… While they were walking to what would be his bedroom she was telling some history facts about the manor and the Du Couteau family to Talon. But Talon wasn't really listening to her, first because he was astonished by the grandeur and the decoration of the manor, but also because he felt like someone was watching him, but every time he turned himself to see if there was someone, no one was there.

Finally, they arrive to his room, the maid opened the door for him, and then told him that if needed anything he should not hesitate to call her, Talon nodded and she walked out of the room closing the door behind her. The room was simple, there was a bed, a wardrobe, a door that lead to his bathroom, and a chest of drawers on which set down a few blades with a way superior quality than the one he used to have. Suddenly, he felt someone spinning him around, and before he could understand what was going on, he had his back against one of the wall of his bedroom and a sharp blade on his throat.

"Who are you?" a firm but feminine voice asked.

Talon came back to his sense and saw a girl from about his age in front of him. She was smaller than him though, and had red crimson hair as well as two wonderful emerald eyes which were staring at him fiercely and a scar that was crossing her left eye.

"I said who the hell are you?" she said insisting on every words and pushing a little bit deeper the blade in his throat.

Talon didn't move, his face emotionless like always "I could ask you the same question, you're the one in my bedroom"

Surprise went through the girl's face, than it changed into anger _'only weaks let their emotions overwhelmed them'_ Talon thought.

"I'm sorry but the last I know you're in _my _house, and I don't know if you notice it but you're not really in the position to ask questions, so answer me!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

In a fraction of seconds Talon grasped the arm in which the red head girl was holding the blade, took the blade from her and exchange their places. This time she was the one against the wall and he was the one holding a blade at her throat.

"Let go of me!" she screamed while debating herself, but without success because Talon was stronger than her.

"Stop moving like that, you're gonna hurt yourself." She calmed herself but he could still see the anger in her emerald eyes.

"So, I guess this time I'm in right to ask questions" he said calmly "Who are you?"

"Katarina Du Couteau" she said coldly without breaking the eye contact.

"Well I'm Talon, nice to meet you Katarina. See you didn't need to assault me to have this information." _'And they say we're the ones with a lack of education'_ Talon released her and she stormed out the room in fury slamming the door behind her.

After that encounter Talon went to the bathroom to take a shower and took some clothe that were in the wardrobe for him he supposed and put them on. Later the General came knocking to Talon's door.

"Talon I see you've found the clothe I got for you that's perfect!"

"Yes, thank you sir." Talon replied. The General seemed to be in a good mood he noticed.

"Well, then come with me, dinner's ready, I'm going to present you to my two lovely daughters." he said smiling. Talon got up from his bed and followed him _'My two lovely daughters' _Talon thought _'Well, I got to meet one and "lovely" is not the adjective I would think of…'_

They entered the living room. The two girls were already sitting at the table. Marcus waved him to take a seat, which caught the two girl's attention. They were sitting next to one another, Talon was sitting alone at the opposite of them and Marcus took a seat at the end of the table between Katarina and him, Katarina which by the way seemed still angry at him, not that he really care though.

"Cassiopeia, Katarina, I would like you to meet Talon. Talon these are my two daughters, Katarina the elder one and Cassiopeia the youngest one."

"Nice to meet you, Talon" Cassiopeia said in a smooth flirting voice. Cassiopeia appearance were unordinary, she had a beautiful face with black hair and green glowing eyes, she was wearing a lot of jewelries and seemed to be a material girl, but what broke her beauty was the tail she had instead of her legs. Yes, the girl was half-human half-snake.

"Nice to meet you too, Lady Cassiopeia" he responded her with a warming smile.

"What is _he_ doing here?" Katarina asked her father in a nonchalant way, eyeing Talon with disgust.

"From now on, Talon will work for me as my personal assassin, he will live here with us and I expect of you to treat him as if he was a member of the family" Cassiopeia seemed happy by the news which could not be said for Katarina.

"If he works for you, why can't he just stay at his house and come when you need him? He doesn't have to live with us"

"Katarina, he will stay with us and that's it, there is nothing for you to discuss here. Moreover he doesn't have a house and that's also why he'll stay here with us" Marcus said curtly, he's good mood from earlier fading away.

"Wait! You mean that you let a street rat moving into our house?!"

"Katarina! Enough! Where are you manners? I'm really disappointed in you. I never thought I would have that kind of immature reaction from you!" Marcus shouted.

Talon was happy _'the spoiled brat got what she deserved'_ he thought. The rest of the dinner went quietly, nobody dared say anything. Katarina gave him one death glare before concentrating on her plate for the rest of the dinner, and Cassiopeia didn't stop giving him seductive looks with her smoldering eyes _'Is she trying to hit on me?'_ Talon thought, he quickly looked at her and she licked sensuously her upper lip _'Great, one of the sister is a total brat who hates me and the other one totally fancy me'_

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**_Hi, here's a new chapter, hope you liked it. And thank you so much for the reviews :)_**


	4. Chapter 4 : A Dance with the Blades

**Chapter 4**** : A Dance with the Blades**

One morning the maid came to Talon's bedroom telling him that the General Du Couteau had requested to see him in his office. Quickly Talon got dressed up with his famous purple robe and put his purple hood on to hide his face. He then walked to the General office. He knocked on the wooden door and the General Du Couteau told him to come in. He walked into his office for the first time. It was a big circular room, which had a dark wooden floor with a red carpet on it, there were two huge bookcase full with tones of heavy books on each side of the door, on the opposite wall were two windows allowing some light to enter into the room and in the middle of the room, next to a fireplace was the General's desk, in front of the desk were two comfortable armchairs. Marcus Du Couteau made a sign for Talon to sit in one of the two armchairs "Please Talon, take a seat" Talon was about to ask him why he wanted to see him when someone else entered the office.

"Hi daddy, you wanted to see me?" Katarina entered the room smiling, she seemed in a good mood today _'If that's even possible for her'_ Talon thought. But Katarina's smile dropped as soon as she saw Talon sitting in one of the armchair. _'Yeah, that's what I thought, not possible'_

"Katarina, Talon, I asked you both here today because I want to discuss about your training with you."

Katarina walked in the room and sat on the second armchair next to Talon _'Oh! No! Tell me he is not gonna say, what I think he's about to say!'_ she thought.

"You see, I would like you both to train together, I think it will be a good opportunity for both of you to improve your skills"

Katarina's eyes widened _'Damn it! He did it!'_ "Thanks daddy, that's a nice offer but I think I'll pass, moreover I don't think he could teach me anything new, I am by far a better fighter than him" Katarina said calmly smiling again. _'Egocentric brat' _Talon thought but didn't say anything.

"Oh! You'll be surprise Katarina, you'll be surprised. Moreover I need you to train together so you can learn how the other fights, so you could one day fight together more efficiently."

"And why would we fight together? Against one another yes, but together I'm not sure that's ever gonna happen"

"Well, it might happen sooner than you think Katarina, I was thinking on sending you too on missions later, so you'll better know how to work together if you want the mission to be a success"

'_Great now I'm gonna have to go on missions with him, thanks dad!'_ Katarina let out a sigh.

"When do you want us to start training sir?" Talon asked_. 'Well I thought he ended up being mute, too bad, definitely not my lucky day…'_ Katarina thought.

"Well, the sooner the better, I recommend you to start today before lunch"

Talon simply nodded and Katarina was desperate by now _'Oh! No! Not my lucky day… Well at least I'll get to punch him in the face and throw some daggers at him, maybe this day is not that bad'_ and a grin appeared on Katarina's face.

Half an hour later Katarina and Talon met in the training room. Talon was still in his purple robe, whereas Katarina changed herself and opted for something more comfortable, she was wearing her combat boots, with a skin-tight black short and a black sport bra.

She took a dagger in each of her hands, then glanced at Talon "Let's be done with it" and the fight started. Katarina threw a few daggers at Talon who dodged them all, but he was still surprised at how fast she could throw the daggers and how good her aim was. He aimed at her with one of his own blades but couldn't manage to touch her, apparently dodging was also one of her specialties. The fight went on like that for a long time, each of them charging at one another but dodging every dagger, until none of them had weapons to fight with. Katarina knew that she had no chance against him in a hand to hand combat -even though she'll never admit it- he was taller and stronger than her, but she was still faster and more flexible than him, moreover she had anticipate that this might happened, so she kept one of her skill to herself planning on taking him by surprise. Talon on the other hand smirked, a hand to hand combat, he'll definitely won this fight, she was over. Katarina started to run at him and kicked him, but Talon avoid all her attempted, he then charge at her with an easy kick that he knew she would dodge easily, but a the last moment he changed his attack and punched her in her bare belly, she didn't see it coming and the punch was so strong that she ended up on the ground. She got up quickly ignoring the pain in her stomach and looked at Talon with fury. Talon smirked, which angered Katarina even more, _'she's to impulsive when she's angry, which makes her weak, and it's so easy to get her angry with her short temper'_ Talon noticed. She might have been impulsive but Talon didn't plan her next move at all; as he was looking at her, she suddenly vanished through the air, Talon didn't understood what happened until he felt a weight on his shoulder _'How did she do that?'_ Katarina had jumped on his back kicking him in the ribs, her legs around his stomach and was now having both her hands on his neck whispering softly in his ear "Strangled" Talon smirked again and replied "Oh! Because you think that it's so easy to simply strangle me?" Suddenly, Talon threw himself back on the floor, earing Katarina whimpering as she took both her fall on the floor and Talon landing on her. Talon quickly turned himself over her grabbing her neck "Well this time I guess I can say strangled, because there's nothing you can do to stop me" she started moving, trying to kick him to defend herself, but he leaned on her so she couldn't move anymore. She became aware of their proximity and instantly froze. She was staring at him with her emerald eyes and he was staring back at her with his dark brown eyes, he couldn't stop thinking how beautiful she was with her green eyes and her long red hair, and how soft her skin was under his fingers. Talon got snapped out of his mind when finally Katarina spoke.

"Are you gonna get of me or do you plan on sleeping on me?"

Talon quickly got up to his feet and so did Katarina, who was back to her usual bad mood

"Don't get to excited with this victory" she said. "You just got lucky, chance of the beginner I guess"

'_Beautiful maybe, but still an egocentric brat'_ Talon thought.

"May I remind you that I'm not a beginner, I fought for my life since I was born, stealing food to survive, while you were crying at your father because he didn't bought candies"

"You know nothing of my life, street rat."

"I know that if you were thrown in the slums without anything, you wouldn't last a day, spoiled brat" Talon said coldly

"What did you call me?"

"I called you a spoiled brat" Talon said calmly, his face still not showing any emotions.

Katarina tried to slap him in the face, but he caught her arm before her hand touched his face, thanks to his reflexes, which angered once again Katarina even more, and she walked out the room without saying anything.

Talon took a shower and thought about his previous meeting with the red head assassin _'I shouldn't have talked to her like that and called her a spoiled brat, even though she deserve it, I lost my temper, I can't do that again, emotions are a weakness'_. Later he went to the living room for lunch, everyone was already there.

"Ah Talon! So how was your training with my lovely daughter?" Marcus asked

"It was fine" Talon simply

"What about Kat? How did you find it?"

"It could have been worth, and don't call me like that, you know I don't like it, I'm not five anymore!"

"Unfortunately no you're not…"

An awkward silence took place, until Cassiopeia started talking:

"So Katarina, do you know what you're going to wear for Saturday's event?"

"Damn! I totally forgot it, why do I have to go to this thing again?"

"Because it's an important social event, where all the elite of Noxus is expected, since you're part of the elite and the daughter of a General, you have to come" Marcus answered.

Cassiopeia turned to Talon and said "Katarina hate social events, she's such a tomboy sometimes" then she said to Katarina "You know you'll never find a husband like that, Kat"

"Well maybe I don't want a husband Cass, and what did I said about you calling me that?"

"By the way you should come there too Talon, you're a part of the family now" Marcus said. Katarina's eyes widened.

"Wait, you want to bring _him_ to one of the highest events of Noxus?"

"Sir, with all your respect, I've got to say that for once I agree with what Lady Katarina said" Talon answered.

"Nonsense, don't worry Talon, Katarina will learn you how to dance and Cassiopeia will learn you how to comport yourself, and I think this event will be a good training for you, who knows, maybe one day I will send you in a mission were you will have to attempt to one of those events and you will have to know how to blend yourself in the crowd"

"Of course sir" Talon answered.

The next morning when Talon woke up, he knew that it was going to be a long day, wondering what was worst between learning how to dance with Katarina as a teacher and learning how to behave in such events with Cassiopeia who will probably try to seduce him the all time.

Katarina was waiting for Talon in the ballroom, thinking about him and how annoying he was, she decided that she didn't like him, she didn't like how quiet he was, she didn't like the fact that she couldn't read him with his emotionless face all the time, and she didn't like –even though she would not admit it- that he seemed to be better than her in combat. Talon entered the room, breaking Katarina train of thought.

"You're late" she said nonchalantly.

"Actually no, you were in advance. Did you miss me so much that you couldn't wait to see me again?"

Katarina gave him a death glare, her hands clenching into fists. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

She put some classical music on, then walked next to Talon. She took a dance posture, her back was straight. "Okay, now put your right hand on my waist and your left in my hand" Talon did it without saying anything. "Now, normally it's the boy who lead the dance, but since you're learning I'll do it. The moves are quite simple, first I'm going to move my right foot forward and you, you're going to move it backward, and then you bring your left foot to your right, this way" she showed him the move "Next move, you bring your left foot to the left and you bring back your right foot, you do all the thing while turning, and that' all, now for Saturday you can choose to go forward, backward to the left or to the right, it'll be your choice since you'll be the one who lead"

"How will the girl know in which direction I'm gonna go then?" he asked

"Don't worry about that, if you're a good leader, the girl will follow you easily"

And they started to dance, slowly at first, but with time they went faster and faster until they reach the right tempo.

"Ouch! That was my foot!" Katarina shout at him.

"I'm sorry Lady Katarina" Talon was having some trouble avoiding Katarina's feet, he had too much to think about, he had to count in his head, remember which move he had to do next, killing was definitely easier.

"Stop looking at your feet, that's how you'll do some mistakes. Just look at my face and concentrate!"

So he looked at her, admiring her light and soft skin contrasting with her crimson hair.

After two hours, they stopped dancing; Talon had to go to his lesson with Cassiopeia.

"I've got to say you did pretty well, I'm impressed"

"Thank you Lady Katarina, I must admit you're quite a good dancer" he answered. She simply smiled at this and went out of the room calmly for once. _'Well, that went better than I thought'_ then he walked to Cassiopeia's room.

He knocked at her door and then walked in when she told him to come in. Her room was full of jewelries, diamonds, and expensive objects. She was sitting on her king sized bed which had at least twelve pillows on it, and waved for Talon to sit down next to her, and so he did but he took care to leave a large space between the two of them.

To Talon's surprised Cassiopeia didn't hit on him that much and simply taught him what he needed to know. But his luck turned when she thought about what he would wear.

"So Talon what are you going to wear? I mean do you have any suit or something?"

"Actually no, but I was thinking coming in one of my purple robes" he simply said.

"Talon, as much as I like you in your purple robes, I mean they make you look mysterious and hot and all that… but you can't go to a social event wearing that, you have to get a suit"

Talon didn't answer. _'Wait, did she just call me hot?'_

"But you're lucky I'm here, because I can get your mensuration if you want, I just happened to have a tape in one of my drawers, then we'll just have to call a tailor and that's it you'll get a new suit" Cassiopeia said in a seductive tone, closing the gap that Talon let between them.

"That's very nice of you to offer Miss Cassiopeia but I think I'll just go to your father and talked to him about it" Talon said not really wanting to have Cassiopeia taking is mensurations.

"But I assure you it's no bother at all" she said whispering in his ear and putting a hand on his thigh. Talon quickly got up, preventing himself throw a dagger at her and tell her to never do that again, and simply said with his face emotionless as always "Thank you for your time, but I guess I should go" Talon exited the room while Cassiopeia was chuckling softly.

The rest of the week happened quickly, Cassiopeia was arguing all the time with Katarina about the dress that Kat was supposed to wear on Saturday night. Katarina was so tired about her sister that she even preferred Talon's company than hers, so they spent a lot of time training together and learning how to match their fighting skills.

On Saturday the evening after three hours waiting, the girls were finally ready to go. When they went out of the bathroom, they were both breathtaking. Cassiopeia had a green dress with glitters on it and a lot of details and was wearing an imposing diamond necklace. Katarina on the opposite had a simple black dress which was marrying her curves perfectly.

They went to the event, all the elite of Noxus was there. Talon stressed a little bit when he saw Swain walking toward them, last thing he knew was that the man wanted him dead. When Marcus saw his reaction he tried to relax him.

"Don't worry Talon, I talked to Swain about you and our agreement, and he removed the reward for your death"

"Marcus Du Couteau" Swain shook Marcus's hand "Jericho Swain" Marcus said. Then Swain turned toward Talon "And you must be Talon? I heard a lot about you, it's nice to finally meet you in person"

"Pleasure's mine. I heard a lot about you too" Talon said coldly. They stare at each other for a while, then Swain greeted Katarina and Cassiopeia before taking off with Marcus, leaving the three of them alone.

The rest of the evening went on peacefully. Talon was standing in a corner, watching the people dancing, talking, laughing… he found it pathetic how all those people were fake, acting as if they were friend with everyone as they secretly hate them all. He found Cassiopeia in the crowd, she was flirting with some upper class boys. _'Not really surprising'_ Talon smirked.

Katarina was sitting at a table next to the bar, she was bored, a few boys tried to flirt with her but she gave them a death glare and they quickly ran away. She was annoyed by the evening, she watch at the clock and sighed, she still had to be here for a few hours before going home. She was watching the people dancing when someone stopped in front of her. She was about to make a nasty comment, but was taken aback when she saw that it was in fact Talon offering her his hand.

"Would you like to dance with me?" he asked

Katarina hesitate for a moment but agreed and took his hand.

"You look wonderful tonight" he told to her as they started dancing.

"Thanks" she said _'Actually you also look dashing in this suit'_ she thought, but she was not going to tell him that…ever.

They stared at each other in the eyes. Katarina was lost in his dark brown eyes as well as Talon was in her emerald ones. The song seemed to have last forever, and they felt like if they were the only one in the room. When the song finally ended Talon bent Katarina backwards, still looking her in the eyes. Right now, Katarina only held by the hand Talon had in her back, but she didn't really care about that, she was still lost in his eyes, their faces inches apart, she had a weird sensation growing inside her stomach and her breath became heavier. Then Talon slowly got her to her feet again and they didn't move during a few seconds. Their bodies were press against one another. One of Talon's hands was in Katarina's hand and the other one in her back. They were staring at each other intensively, Katarina softly said:

"What was that?" it was almost a whisper.

"I don't know I just felt like doing it" he answered. His breath was heavy too, he stopped looking at her eyes and was now staring at her red lips. Seeing that Katarina swallowed hard, she panicked and went back to her senses before she quickly pulled back from Talon's grip.

"Well, don't you dare do that again" she said abruptly and with that she walked away, actually almost ran away from Talon, leaving him speechless in the center of the dance floor.


	5. Chapter 5: The Mission

**Chapter 5****: The Mission**

Two years had happened since Talon moved in the Du Couteau's manor and he became used to his new life. Katarina and Talon were training every morning when he was not on a mission. Katarina who was now, not appreciating him, but tolerating him, which was actually a big improvement.

From time to time, the General was sending Talon on missions, most of the time it was killing or spying missions, sometimes both. Cassiopeia was spending her days hiding in her bedroom making some sellers come at the house so she could still do some shopping and squandered her father's money without having to show herself. And the General was busy doing some work in his office and meeting Swain, even though Talon noticed that Marcus Du Couteau looked more stress and anxious than usual, despite the fact that he tried not to show it too much. During those two years Talon had earned some new fighting skills, the General had taught him how to shunpo, the same way as Katarina did during their first fight and other things like that. Katarina had also been busy during those two years, she had had a lot of assassinations to do for the High Command of Noxus, which she absolutely didn't mind, and had to fight against some demacian forces.

Talon was heading towards the General's office, wondering why the General asked to see him _'He probably has a mission for me'_ he thought. Talon hadn't had a lot of things to do lately and he was starting to get bored, so the idea of finally having a mission and kill someone thrilled him.

Talon knocked at the office's door then walked in. The General Du Couteau greeted him and Talon noticed that Katarina was also here.

"I have a mission for the two of you." Marcus said "It's not a too complicated one, but it will take some time since the target is in Bilgewater" he then gave some documents to Katarina "Those are the information you need to know about the target. Now you'll leave in two hours, I've already had a carriage waiting for you in which you will find some gold for the mission. Any questions?"

Talon stayed silent and Katarina said "No everything's fine."

"Great then the both of you may leave." Marcus said smiling.

Talon greeted the General goodbye and then followed Katarina out of the room. As soon as they were in the corridor Katarina said "Well that's going to be a cool mission! I mean if he asked the both of us to do it, it means that there's going to be some action."

Talon simply said "Maybe" in his cold and monotone voice which annoyed Katarina _'Can't he just show a little bit of emotions? Like I don't know… excitement for the mission at least?'_

"God you're such a robot, do you know that?" she sighed "I'm gonna go grab some stuff for the mission. See you later."

Two hours later Katarina went to the carriage and was not surprised to see that Talon was already there, she sat next to him. The carriage started to ride towards Bandle City, from where they will take a boat to Bilgewater. Katarina then took the files her father gave to her and started reading them. "So the target is a man called Adrian Maltais, he owns a bar in Bilgewater and looking at the drawing I would say he is in his mid-thirties" With the files was a drawing of what this Adrian Maltais looked like. The man had brown hair, a three days unshaved beard, a little scar on his cheek, and was dressing as if he was a pirate, which he was not, but it was what _la mode_ wanted in Bilgewater.

"Weird…" Katarina said "He doesn't look like someone who is important, I mean he's just a bar owner."

"It doesn't mean he is not dangerous." Talon replied

"Right… So how long do you think this mission is going to last?" She asked, trying to break the silence.

"I'd say, at least ten days. Knowing that we have to go to Bilgewater then come back."

Katarina sighed _'Great! One week alone with robot Talon, well if he keeps on being that talkative, it's definitely going to be fun'_

The travel went on quietly. Katarina, bored, decided to take a nap and Talon was looking through the window of the carriage. He got break out of his reverie when he felt something touch his shoulder. By reflex he drew a knife from his belt and was about to stab the person who tried to take him by surprise when he saw that it was Katarina who's head had fallen on his shoulder while she was sleeping. Talon felt stupid, he had overreacted, of course it could only be Katarina, they were the only two persons in this carriage. His arm was still in midair with his blade pointed at Katarina. He was starting to lower his weapon when he felt Katarina quickly jumping away from him to the opposite of the carriage, drawing one of her weapon in her hand and taking a defensive posture.

Katarina had woken up because of Talon's sudden moves. She had opened slowly her eyes when she saw Talon staring and pointing one of his blades at her. Her eyes widened and she quickly got away from him, taking one of her own blade in her hand in case he tried to attack her.

"Did you just try to kill me in my sleep?" She asked. Talon could see shock on her face even though she tried as best as she could to keep her composure. _'Damn! How am I going to explain her that?'_ He looked at her calmly, put his weapon back in his belt, she was still on her defensive though and Talon could not really blame her he would also be like that if the roles were reverse.

"Kat" he said trying to have a reassuring voice _'Did I just call her Kat?'_ "Don't worry, I don't want to kill you. Your head just fell on my shoulder and I was taken aback and my assassin's reflexes took over me, but when I saw it was you I stop it. Moreover you should know that if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."

Katarina relaxed at this, she knew better than to catch an assassin by surprised, she also had those reflexes. _'But wait, did he just call me Kat?'_ she decided to ignore it and went back to her seat next to Talon who was relieved that she believed him. They spent the rest of the travel in an awkward silence.

When they finally arrived in Bandle City the next day, it was already 6pm. They immediately decided to book two places on a boat to Bilgewater before it was too late. Luckily for them they found a boat that left for Bilgewater at 10am on the next day, so they would not lose too much time in Bandle City.

After eating, they went to an inn so they could spend the night on a comfy bed, because Katarina was definitely a pain in the ass when it came to her self-comfort, which annoyed Talon to no end because he didn't care about such futile things since he used to sleep on the streets when he was young.

"_I'm_ doing the reservation" Katarina said to Talon "because seeing your level of sociability, we'll never get a room" she gave him a critical smile then walked toward the receptionist. Talon stayed behind her not saying anything.

"Hi, how may I help you?" the receptionist asked politely.

"Hi I would like to book two rooms for tonight, with one bed in each, a king size bed if possible, at least in one of the room the other one can have just a simple bed." Katarina said with a fake smile. Talon rolled his eyes when he heard her.

"I'm really sorry miss, but since this week we celebrate the reappearance of Gnar the missing link, a lot of people are here, and I don't have two rooms left."

Katarina's fake smile dropped "Well that problematic"

"But" the receptionist continued "we still have one room left"

"Oh! Yes! If it's a single room with two separate beds it will also suit perfectly" she said her smile back on.

"Well, actually the room as only one double bed" Katarina's smile dropped even further than the first time, the receptionist saw it and added "but you'll be happy because it's not just a double bed, it's a king size bed"

"I'll just talk to my partner and tell you what we decide."

"Of course, take your time." The receptionist said still smiling.

Katarina turned to Talon with alarming eyes "What do we do now?"

Talon was tired from the trip and actually didn't care about sharing a room with Katarina "Well seeing how late it is and Gnar's celebration, I guess we won't find another inn that is not full, so unless you have a better idea I'd say we take the room."

"Actually, I was thinking of maybe killing one of the clients to free another room." She said almost whispering.

"And I'm the asocial one?"

"Yes, you're right." She sighed in defeat and turned back to the receptionist "We'll take the room."

"Great, here's the key, it's on the third floor and the stairs are on you left. Breakfast is served from 6am to 11 a.m., if you have any problems or questions don't hesitate I'll be right here. Enjoy your stay and have a good night."

Talon and Katarina went to the room. It was a minimalist room with one closet, a door that led to the bathroom, a desk, a chair and the famous king size bed that Katarina wanted so much, and in which you could have put at least four persons.

"I'm gonna go take a shower" Katarina broke the silence. She took some clothe and went to the bathroom.

After one and a half hour, Katarina finally got out of the bathroom, she had changed into her night clothes, which consist in a black short and a grey tank top. Talon had also changed himself while Katarina was washing herself, it's not like he didn't have the time, she did take more than one hour for a simple shower _'What did she do? A trek in the bathtub?_' he snorted. He had trade his famous purple robe for a simple black pant.

When Katarina saw that Talon was shirtless she immediately put her hands in front of her eyes and turned her head to face the wall embarrassed, avoiding any sight of him, a blush reaching her cheeks.

"God! Talon! Put some clothe on! You're not alone in here!" by now, her face were as red as her hair.

"Oh! Come on! Don't tell me you never saw a shirtless guy before?" He chuckled, he found the all situation hilarious, Katarina's reaction was really pathetic, but it made her look cute _'Wait! What?'_

"No. Of course not but"_ 'He's wright why am I reacting like this? God I look so stupid now! Come on Katarina suck it up'_ she turned to face him "just next time please warn me or something. I mean how would you react if suddenly I was walking around in my underwear?"

"Well, personally I wouldn't mind." _'Dammit, I didn't just say that!'_ he wanted to slap himself sometimes _'Emotions are weakness Talon'_ an inner voice suddenly said _'and here you are chuckling over a girl, you're the one who's pathetic, those feelings makes you weak, get over them or you'll end up dead'_

"You pervert!"

Talon's emotionless face was back on "No, I didn't mean it like that, it's just that I don't care about your body." Talon said coldly even though right now another voice in his head said _'Liar! You totally care about her body' _but Talon ignore it _'Feelings are a weakness'_

Katarina was taken aback by Talon's answer and simply said "Oh". His words kind of hurt her though, she was disappointed to know that he didn't find her attractive at all _'Why would I care? And why am I feeling like this? It's just Talon's opinion, who cares what he thinks.'_ Katarina told herself that it was because he hurt her self-esteem that she felt like this. They stared at each other without saying anything during a few minutes, both fighting with their minds and their feelings. Katarina was the one who broke the silence.

"I'm going to bed." She then walked to the bed, laid down in it and put the covers over her body. Talon turned the lights off, and then lay at the opposite side of the bed. When she felt Talon lying down on the bed next to her, her eyes burst open and she froze.

"Talon, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to get some sleep, and so should you."

"No, no, no, no, no. There's no way you're sleeping in the same bed as me!"

"Katarina, have you seen the size of this bed? It won't even be possible for us to touch each other, I mean we could even lose ourselves in this thing."

"No. Way." Katarina said firmly.

Talon sighed, she was really annoying, but he was too tired to argue with her. So he got out of the bed, took some pillows and blanket that was in the closet and made a makeshift bed on the floor.

"Goodnight Katarina."

"Goodnight Talon."

On the next day when Katarina woke up, Talon was taking his shower –she could hear the water running– so she dressed herself up quickly in her typical leather equipment. Then she went to the lobby to pay for the room and got back with some breakfast. When she got back to the room, Talon had already finished his shower and was dressed in his purple robe –He definitely spent less time than Katarina in the bathroom–. They ate in silence, Katarina was not really a morning person and hated when people talk to her before she finished her breakfast, but that wasn't really a problem since Talon never talks.

Once they were ready, they left the inn to go on the boat that would take them to Bilgewater. The trip was going to last three days so Katarina and Talon decided to think about the plan they would apply for the assassination. Of course they argued about the plan, each of them having a different idea about what to do, even though Talon's plan was actually better, which Katarina had noticed, but her pride would never let her tell him that he had indeed a better plan than her.

"Okay, okay. In a surge of generosity, I'm gonna let you have it your way" she said.

'_Why does she give away that easily? That's not like her. I guess she just realized that my plan was better but she doesn't want to tell me.'_ Talon thought.

"But…" she continued "I have one condition"

"Go on tell me." He said exasperatedly.

"I want to be the one who kill him." Talon rolled his eyes at this, she really really annoyed him.

"Okay you can kill him" he sighed in defeat.

Three days had passed and they finally reached Bilgewater, to Katarina's relief, she didn't like taking the boat, it always made her feel nauseous. They settled down in a little inn in two separate rooms this time, then, went to the bar their target held.

"You should have brought a cloak with a hood to hide yourself." Talon said.

"Why?" she answered exasperated "I have a pretty face it would be a shame to hide it."

Talon rolled his eyes _'I'm gonna end up dead because of her lack of competence, she's just like Kavyn a liability'_ He took a deep breath and said coldly "Actually it was for your hair, someone could easily identify you and it could compromise the all mission."

Talon was right, which frustrated Katarina even more. "Don't worry about me, if they ask I'll just say I'm someone else."

They entered the bar and took a seat at the counter. The barman came at them asking them what they would like to drink. Talon and Katarina looked at each other, it was their target and he didn't seemed dangerous, he wasn't especially brawny or anything, but Talon knew better than to go on appearances.

"A beer for me" Talon said nonchalantly.

"And I'll take some red wine, please." Katarina told smoothly.

"Okay, I'll bring you that right away."

The bar was full of drunken pirates, some of them asleep in their own vomit even though it was only 10 in the morning.

The barman came back with the drinks and after giving Katarina her drink he looked at her curiously. "I'm sorry to intrude miss but, are you" Talon stiffened _'Dammit! I told her!'_ he already had one of his blades in his hand and was preparing himself to jump and slit the man's throat when he heard "Sarah Fortune?" at this he relaxed, putting his blade back in his belt.

"What makes you think that?" Katarina answered then she looked at Talon with a taunting glare. She had seen how he had reacted when he heard the beginning of the sentence, he had looked at her his face emotionless as always, but she could read "I told you so" in his eyes. _'Even though he's not showing it, he must be so angry at me right now'_ Katarina was appreciating her small victory, a big smile of satisfaction could be seen on her lips.

"Well mostly the red hair and I would have also said the guns, but you don't seem to have them with you."

"That's because you don't know where to look" she said in a smooth and seductive voice. The man started to blush. Talon noticed that Katarina was staring at the bartender the same way Cassiopeia was looking at him, and he didn't know why but he felt anger rushing through his vein and he clench his fist under the counter _'Come on Katarina, now is not the time to flirt, you're gonna have to kill the man in a few hours'_.

Talon quickly finished his drink –he actually drank he's beer in one go– put some money on the counter, then grab Katarina's arm "Come on, it's time to go." She tried to protest and free herself but he was stronger than her and had already almost dragged her outside the bar. She only heard the bartender cried to her "I hope we'll see each other again!"

"Don't worry we will" she answered him _'Yes, sooner than you think'_

Once they were outside Katarina tore her arm away from Talon's grip

"What the fuck! I didn't even finish my drink!" she said irritated by Talon's actions.

"What the hell was that Katarina?!" his voice and face still emotionless but anger could be seen in his eyes.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who acts like a total freak."

"I'm talking about you flirting with this man! That was not part of the plan, you're supposed to kill him not befriend him."

"Relax! I was just having some fun. Don't tell me you're jealous?" a smirk started to draw on her lips.

"Of course not, don't be a fool, if it wasn't for your father I would have killed you by now." _'Jealous? I'm not jealous, I'm just angry because she almost compromises the mission, not because she was flirting with that stupid bartender, who by the way would be no match for her, she needs a strong man who can compete her fighting skills and who can protect her, not some weak bartender surrounded by drunken pirates! Wait, why do I even care?'_

"If you say so." Katarina said rolling her eyes.

The rest of the day went on. Katarina went outside to a shop known for his blade's quality, while Talon was observing the streets of Bilgewater, hiding in the shadows.

Then the time to accomplish the mission arrived. It was three in the morning, the hour when Adrian was closing his bar. Talon and Katarina both waited outside, lurking in the dark of the night. Then they saw Adrian Maltais getting outside, he was closing the front door of his bar but was not alone, he was holding one of the drunken pirates, who was half asleep, on his shoulder.

"What do we do? I kill Adrian, you kill the pirate?" Katarina asked Talon.

"Well he's asleep so I don't really see the point in killing him."

"There's always a point in killing somebody. Fun."

"There's nothing funny in killing someone in his sleep. It's not challenging at all."

"Your right, but we take what we have." She sighed.

Then they looked at each other, it was the time now, time to finish this mission and go back to Noxus. Katarina had this sensation she always had before going on a mission: excitement.

She got out from where they were hiding and walked toward Adrian.

"Oh! Hi again. I didn't expect to see you. I'm sorry if you wanted a drink I just closed the bar."

"Don't worry, I'm actually here to see you." Katarina said slowly.

"Oh! Really?" _'I'm so lucky, if she wants to have sex with me, I don't care about this pirate, I just let him here lying on the street and go with her'_ he thought. Then he looked back at her but she wasn't here anymore, she had just vanished. _'Did I just dream this?'_ Suddenly he felt something cold touched his throat and his skin started to twinge before his vision went blurry, he fell to the floor and all went black.

Katarina wiped her blade against the sleeping pirate cloak when she heard Talon said. "Well someone's gonna have a bad surprise when he wakes up."

"So you're not killing him?" she asked.

"No, only weaks are getting drunk to the point they can't even stand up. Let's teach him a lesson, by leaving him here."

"You're so evil Talon, I like that." She chuckled mischievously and he smirked.

They took the road back to Noxus, but something was bothering Katarina, something wasn't right about that mission. They were already on the carriage that was taking them from Bandle City to Noxus when she shared her thoughts with Talon.

"Don't you find that weird?" she asked. Talon was sitting the opposite of her, his eyes closed, but Katarina knew he wasn't sleeping.

"Find what weird?" he answered, his eyes still closed.

"I mean this mission. It was way too easy, we just had to kill a defenseless bartender. Why did my father wanted the both of us on this mission? There was no need to send two of the best noxian assassins just for that, one of us would have been enough."

"If your father did it, it means he had a reason." was Talon's answer. An answer that didn't satisfied Katarina _'Does the situation not bother him at all? How could he be so indifferent? Well again we're speaking about Talon so… emotionless robot and all…'_

"Aren't you curious a little bit? As to what this reason might be?" she continued.

"I trust the General." he simply answered. He was starting to annoy her, so she preferred to stop the conversation here and keep her thoughts for herself.

When they finally reached the manor, Katarina was exhausted from the trip, Talon too, but he wasn't showing it. She entered her home and shouted "Dad! Cass! We're home." but the house was silent _'if it interest anybody'_ she thought. Suddenly she felt two arms embracing her, she was about to stab the person when she saw it was only Cassiopeia. "God Cass! I almost kill you!" then she felt Cassiopeia sobbing into her shoulder and Katarina started to worry.

"Hey, Cass. What happened?"

"It's dad…" Cassiopeia said between two sobs. At this Talon, who was behind the two girls, started to draw his attention to the conversation.

"Dad? What dad? Where is he? What happened to him?" Katarina asked. She was starting to have a feeling she didn't felt since a long time. Fear. Fear that something might have happened to her father while she was in Bilgewater.

"He's gone."

* * *

Hi guys, I'm so so so so sorry for the long time update, it's crazy how time flies ! But god news, I'm on hollidays right now so except for next week, I'll have plenty of time to write, and I'll try to be more regular in my updates.  
Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this chapter, thanks for reading it :)


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